Portable folding table



(No Model.) i

. J. MGKEOUGH.

PORTABLE FOLDING TABLE. 7 No. 307,564. Patented Nov. 4, 1884.

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JOHN MOKEOUGH, OF BURLINGTON VERMONT.

PORTABLE FOLDING TABLE.

CPECEFICATIOI forming part of Letters Patent No. 307,56, dated November 4, 188%.

Application filed November 29, 1 93.

To all whom it may concern:

-3e itknown that I, JOIIN McKEoUoH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Burlington, in the county of Ohittenden and State of Vermont, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable Folding Tables, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to improvements in folding tables intended for any use, but especially designed to meet the wants of paperhangers, camping or picnic parties, or of those persons who find it necessary and convenient to use in a folding table the combination of four sections which are hinged together, one of the long sections having a leg and brace secured to its under side,and the otherlong section having a side rigidly secured to one edge, a side hinged to its opposite edge, and a brace secured to its under side, and one of the short sections having a leg connected to its under side, as will be more fully described herein after.

My invention is fully shown in' the acconr panying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of my invention when folded and ready to be carried in the hand. .Fig. 2 is a perspective of the inside of my invention opened and lying on its side. spective of my invention standingin position. Fig. 4 is a detailview of my spring-stop hinge. Fig. 5 is a detail cross-sectionoi' one of the cross-bars, showing the mortise therein.

Similar letters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

The top of my table I divide into four parts, a b c d, which respectively constitute, when folded, the two sides and two ends of the box A. That it may be carried more conveniently in the hand, I prefer to have the parts I) and (Z, which form the sides of the box, of greater length-say thirty inches-than a and c, which form the ends, which shall he, say, twelve inches, thus forming, when unfolded, a tabletop seven feet in length. The parts B and 0 form the bottom and top of the box A when thetable is folded. They will be respectively the same length as the sides I) and (Z, and, say, twenty-two inches wide. The former,]3,is secured by metallic braces to the lower edge of Fig. 3 is a per :Xo model.)

one of the sides d of the box A, and at right angles with it. (See Fig. 2.) Thelatten-O, is so hinged on the under side of the opposite edge of the side (I that it may be raised to a horizontal position when the table is opened,

and there firmly held by one or more slides, c.

(See Fig. 2.) In this way it may be used to increase the width of this portion of the table, or for the purpose of a shelf to hold, for instance, the paste-pail and tools of the papercr, without the necessity of their occupying any room on the table; or, if preferred, the slides 0 may be withdrawn, and it forms adrop-leai" to the table, as shown in Fig. 8.

To give greater stability and firmness to the parts a, b, and d of my tablctop,whctherin an open or closed position, than can be secured by the use of the ordinary table or butt hinge,- I use my springstop hinge D, Fig. 4, which consists of an ordinaryhinge,across the inside of each strap of which, and at right angles with them, are attached right-angular metallic projections f with their respective meeting edges so turned as to overlap each other, and thus prevent the hinge from being more than entirely opened, as shown in Fig. 4-. To secure the hinge in this position I add the spring h, the upper end of which passes through the projec tion 9 and past the lap of the projection f, thereby preventing the closing of the hinge until this end of the spring is withdrawn. Thus constructed itis apparent that the hinge can only be one-quarter closed. The great additional stiffness and reliability of the parts connected by this device are especially desirable. The handle E in the part or top 0 is so constructed that it readily drops into the groove beneath it in the plate '5, so that it may not appear as an obstruction when the top is extended horizontally to increase the width of the tabletop. The parts b and c are firmly connected by the hasp F and eye j when the table is closed in box form.

G G represent the legs, which are braced laterally by the upper and lower cross-bars, 70 Z, and are so hinged to the under side of the table-top at H H that they can only be made to fold beneath it. In theirlower extremities sharp-pointed projections m are inserted to penetrate the floor upon which the table stands, and thus prevent their ready displacement.

I I are braces composed of two or more bars, which I design to have slide upon each otherto increase their length as desired. These bars are rigidly secured to each other at any point by means of suitable thumbscrews. They are so hinged to the under side of the table-top that they may brace open the leg-frames by having their lower ends inserted in mortises Z, that are cut in the cross-bars.

To fold the table, first loosen the thumbscrews in the braces I, and slide the parts back till the entire brace caii lie between itshinge and the upper cross-brace, k. Then turn the legfr'ames downupon the underside of the parts I) and d. By so doing the part 0 will be brought tightlyagainst the adjoining end of the part B, which forms one end of the box A. Then draw back the springs h in the hinges D, and fold the I be conveniently filled withwhatever articles are desired to be carried. The top is then closed and locked or otherwise fastened, and the handle E raised sufficiently to pass the hand around it. The whole device is then as portable as a portmanteau or gripsack.

\Vhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a folding table, the combination of the long section I), having a leg and its brace connected to its underside, the section 0, having a leg connected to its under side, the short section a, and the long section d, having the side Brigidlysecured to one edge, and the side 0 loosely to the other, and having one of the braces I secured to its under side, the said sections a b c d being hinged together substantially as shown.

In testimony whereof I do affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN MOKEOUGH.

L. F. WVILBUR. 

